Paul and Lucy Spadoni periodically live in Tuscany to explore Paul’s Italian roots, practice their Italian and enjoy “la dolce vita.”
All work is copyrighted and may not be reprinted without written permission from the author, who can be contacted at www.paulspadoni.com

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Nida Giusti endured hardships of World War II with courage, dignity, and finally, grace for her oppressors

Lucy and
I just had a remarkable conversation with a 97-year-old Italian great
grandmother who is sharp as a tack. I am always interested in hearing
stories about what life was like in Italy during World War II. This wasn’t just a war against other
countries, but it also pitted neighbor against neighbor—and then
when peace came, some “enemies” were still right next door, and
the families had to forget their differences.

Nida Maria Francesca Giusti in her home in San Salvatore

For the most part, the
Italians adjusted quite well. Nida Giusti, born Feb. 16, 1918, is old
enough to remember the rise and fall of Fascism, the de facto
dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, Italy’s ill-fated entrance into
the war on the side of Germany and finally its withdrawal from the
war and subsequent changing of loyalties.

Nida’s shiny gray hair,
ready smile and lively manner of expressing herself made us forget
her age. Lucy and I regretted that we couldn’t always understand
her witty comments, which made her family break out laughing several
times. We laughed, too, but more out of pleasure for seeing how her
family enjoyed her sense of humor.

Her family moved several
times during her younger years, working the fields of other families
as contadini, landless peasant farmers. Before the war, Nida
remembers living in Pescaglia and Borgo a Mozzano in the Garfagnana
region, and San Ginese di Compito in Capannori. She also worked as a
house servant for a wealthy family in Lucca around the time the war
started. She recalls that one of the sons of the family sided with
the Fascists, and he was later imprisoned and executed, most likely
by Italian partisans.

Me, Nida and Elena, who translated our conversation. Photo by Lucy.

Life under Fascism “erabrutto,” she said—it was ugly. “My father in law had ten
children, and they were not going to the Fascist youth meetings. The
commander called him in and threatened him if he didn’t enroll his
children immediately. Everybody had to salute and say, ‘Viva Il
Duce,’ and they had to parade every Saturday.” The war
possibly cost Nida the life of her first child. She was living at
Borgo a Mozzano in 1942, but because the area was under bombardment,
the midwife wouldn’t risk coming. Instead Nida had to walk about 20
miles to San Genese, and her child died before birth. Another son was
born in 1944, just before the war ended.

In 1943, the family moved
to San Piero in Campo, near Pescia, to escape the heavy fighting and
poor conditions in Borgo a Mozzano as the war escalated. During
bombing raids in Pescia, they found a bunker to hide in under the
railroad tracks, and they would take hay down with them to make beds.
The Germans had their headquarters nearby, but for the most part, the
soldiers let the Italian women and children manage their farms in
peace. The men, though, had to remain hidden during daylight in the
wine cellars or in the hills above Pescia, because they could be
taken as prisoners of war or pressed into service at work camps. One
man tried to hide by dressing like a woman. It worked for a few days,
but when he was discovered, he was executed. Four of her
brothers-in-law were taken away as prisoners, but her husband managed
to stay free. In 1945, all four imprisoned men returned, and the
family threw a party to celebrate.

The farmers also did their
best to hide their animals from the soldiers, but that didn’t
always work. The Germans would come and take what they needed to feed
themselves. While she remembers fearing and resenting the soldiers,
she also recalls their human sides.

“From time to time, they
were kind,” she said. “We would be sitting out under a mulberry
tree mending our clothes,” she said, “and the German soldiers
would come up and sit down and try to talk. We were afraid, but then
they would point at the children to let us know that they also had
wives and children.”

In the end, she said she
no longer feels bitterness against the Italians who sided with
Mussolini or even the German soldiers who imposed their harsh rule on
the country. I asked if she still felt rancor, and she laughed.
“Everything passes,” she said. “At the time, we tried to hide
our suffering from the children. But now it’s passed. It was war.
It was war. We hope we don’t have any more.”

Nida with her extended family at the celebration at San Piero in Campo after the war. Nida is holding one of her children, middle row.

No comments:

Post a Comment

An Amazon.com "Italy memoir" BEST SELLER

‟An American family spends a year in Italy–a dream, a disaster, laughter and tears, an unforgettable memory. Warning: this book may cause you to book a flight to Italy. Enjoy!” –Maria Coletta McLean, author of My Father Came from Italy

Follow us by Email

Search This Blog

About Me

First off, before you hassle me about our title, Lucy thought of it. Yes, I know some people may think broad is derogatory, but the etymology is uncertain and she doesn’t find it offensive, and it made me laugh. We have been married since 1974 and are empty-nesters now, which allows me to bring my submerged Italophilia into the open. We first came to live in Italy from February-April in 2011 and have returned during the same months every year. From 2011-2015, we lived in San Salvatore, at the foot of the hilltop city Montecarlo, where my paternal grandparents were born, raised and, in 1908, married. In late 2015, we bought a home in Montecarlo. We come for a variety of purposes: We want to re-establish contact with distant cousins in both Nonno’s and Nonna’s families, we want to learn the language and see what it is like to live as Italians in modern Italy, we like to travel and experience different cultures. Even if we aren’t successful at achieving these purposes, we love Italy and enjoy every moment here, so there is no chance we will be disappointed. I am grateful to God for giving me a wife who is beautiful, clever, adaptable and willing to jump into my dreams wholeheartedly.